Purchasing a holiday/investment home was a major step for us and with some trepidation we instructed Dolby Properties o Orlando to act as our realtors and select a suitable property.

Dominique Campbell-Combe had acted as realtor for a friend of mine who had recently purchased a property in Florida and she recommended Dominique. We knew the price range we could afford and that we wanted a property near Disney, but we were `in the dark' about the buying process,- what properties were available? Where was the best place to buy?; whether to buy a 4 bedroom property or 3 bedroom property; how long would the process take?: how would we organise a mortgage? How much tax would we have to pay? etc etc.

All our questions were answered promptly at all times, if Dominique didn't have the answer for us immediately, she would always find out and get back to us. We were provided with the contacts for the mortgage advisor, and US bank accounts that we were had been advised to open, plus a company that could help us with the tax aspect.

We carried out our purchase from start to completion over the internet, we didn't even travel to the US to view the properties. I relied on Dominique's advice, along with that of my friend for the property that we finally chose and decided that location was paramount. Dominique was able to show us properties as soon as they were on the market and after viewing half a dozen or so, we chose our property - a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom property in the popular location of Indian Point, based on photos that Dominique had taken for us. The property market was certainly very competitive and we made sure we offered the right price and the deal was struck! It needed nothing doing to it immediately as it had recently been refurbished and therefore available to rent immediately on close of sale. The property was fully furnished, a great plus point of buying property in Florida, mostly you buy the properties complete with all furnishings, including appliances, even down to the knives and forks!

We began renting the property both through our agency and on the internet along with our own private advertising in and around the area that we live. Our rental agency managed to get guest reservations within the first few weeks of owning the property.

With a balance of bookings, from our rental agency and those obtained via private advertising on the internet & through friends/relatives, we have had a successful first year and have managed to cover our costs and maintain the property at a consistent level. We have had some great feedback from guests who have stayed in our villa and this goes to prove that Dominique knew what she was talking about and our decision to purchase our property based on her advice was the right one.

We are certainly glad that we took the plunge and look forward to nurturing our property further for the foreseeable future.

Stephanie Chiazza
Bedfordshire
England
(September 2005)